Wednesday, September 3, 2008

High time for a Post

Seeing as none of us have posted a word since the 18th of last month, I figured it was time for a morsel, something, anything to be put up here on this, our blog.Before I get into what I'm going to get into I'd just like to state for the record that the word "blog" is positively cringe-inducing for me. If you're like me and were wondering who the guilty asshole was that coined the term, Wikipedia has this to say: The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[7] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999.[8][9][10] Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.[11]

So it really should be log, like "Captain's Log stardate whatever" but this Peter Merholz character just had to make it blog. I'll give him a pass though, how can anyone know that some word they create would enter the modern English language.Speaking of, can anyone confirm for me the youngest blogger out there? I'm not talking some parent of an infant who started some cutesy blog pretending to be their drooling, crying baby. There's gotta be a 2 or 3 year old out there with a blog. Please, send some links if you can. Enough of this. Concerning ye merry Band, we just played in New Orleans for the first time a couple weeks ago. Sickels, our drummer, had never flown before and did a great job of keeping it together on each of the 4 flights (layover in Houston aka George HW Bush airport!!!). Though I guess it's not hard to keep it together when an air marshal has knocked you out with the but of his gun. We had a lot of fun running around the city. Nick was intent on finding a real Voodoo kind of shrunken head but all we could find in the French Quarter were tacky, Beer T-places that sold mall brand shrunken heads. Oh well, maybe next time. For me, this was my 2nd time in Norleans. I have to say it was infinitely more enjoyable this time around, seeing as I had the living shit beat out of me by a group of young guys outside a bar (50 cent mixed drinks!! Come on, that's not fair!). I had to fly home with 2 black eyes and a chipped front tooth, sitting in between 2 obese women, one of whom had an infant and politely asked to use my tray to feed said baby. Regardless, I like New Orleans alot more now. We're also prepping up to make some videos. We're toying with the idea of having a running story that begins where the last video started off. The labels having some problems picking a first single, which is a good thing. Most bands only have 1 or 2 single worthy jams on their albums. Our album is pretty much all singles save 3 or 4 songs. It's the internet age, the single has returned, which we're quite happy about in a strange sort of way. Snyder has Nick's Pix. Being named Mark I don't have it so easy. Mark's Larks? Hmm. I dunno. Regardless, here's some stuff I've been into recently and I urge you to check out: - The Americanization of Emily Those who know me, know I'm really into film having gone to school to write movies. Paddy Chayefsky, in my opinion, is the top screenwriter of all time. Period. If you haven't seen "Network", do it. Now. Forget about Tarantino.This picture is about a coward who becomes a war Hero during D-Day. I won't give the plot away, but it's very poignant and even though it was made in 1964, it might ring more true today. Satire at it's best. See this if you can. I don't know how hard it is to come by. I taped it off TCM, godbless that channel. - 45 by Bill DrummondIf you've read this blog before then you probably know about my fascination with the KLF. Well this is a memoir written by Bill Drummond, half of the duo. Nick and I swear by "The Manual", their how-to-make-a-hit-record guide, and this is even more insightful. Drummond really understands pop music. He doesn't take it seriously but still can't help but be consumed by it. Quickly becoming a hero of mine. I ordered it on Amazon but I don't think it's that hard to find. Also check out his website:http://www.penkilnburn.com/ - Generation KillI'm a huge fan of "The Wire" as hopefully you are too. I didn't know what to expect of this HBO mini-series made by Burns and Simon, creators of "The Wire". But it is great and really gives a tremendous insight into the invasion of Iraq. I know Nick's really into this too, so that's half of the Band endorsing this one.Check out the articles it was originally based on and later turned into a book of the same name:http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938873/the_killer_elite/

- M83 "Saturdays=Youth"I first heard this French one man band on the internet radio while at work. The song "Graveyard Girl", really stuck out and reminded me of New Order for some reason.I picked up the album on the strength of this one song and surprisingly was not disappointed. It's electronic pop with a very discernible MY Bloody Valentine influence. Definitley for a mood, but very strong.

A long post, I know. But I'm making up for not "blogging" (cringing!) in a while.Well Sickels is calling, he's gotta go to court about this whole being knocked out by an air marshal thingy and he needs a ride.